LOST CITIES 

               Earth has a lot of secrets and some are discovered and some still wait in the shadows awaiting to be found. The most best secrets are the ones which were once lost. Lost cities are scattered around the world and most of them are popular tourist sites nowadays. It’s wonderful to learn about the history of this lost cities and exploring it to figure out how people back then lived their lives. Let’s explore some of these lost cities and learn about their history. 
               
                Machu Picchu. This lost city is in Peru and was founded in 1450 but soon abandoned in 1572. This city was then discovered by a Hawaiian historian above the Urubamba Valley. The lost city above this tall valley was also known as the “Lost City of the Incas”. It can be spotted from below and its surrounded by plantations and natural springs making it a perfect spot to live and thrive. Machu Picchu was not known in Peru until it was found and till this day it has been the most popular tourist attraction. 

  

                 
                 Angkor. Cambodia is where this ancient monument stands. It’s a vast temple city which features remains of the city of Khmer Empire from 9th century AD. In this lost city stands Angkor Wat temple which is the largest single religious monument followed by Bayon temple which is popular for its massive stone faces. The city was abandoned when Ayutthaya invaders looted the place after Angkor was sacked. Angkor went through many changes in the matter of religion switching from Hinduism to Buddhism for several times. The Angkorian period ended and almost all of Angkor was abandoned except Angor Wat which remained as a shrine. 

                         Tikal. Tikal was the largest Mayan city because of its inhabitants which was around 100,000 to 200,000 at the times of 200 to 900 AD. As the population grew more and more the city started to suffer from many things. Around 830 AD population started to decrease as food levels were low and the central authority collapsed rapidly as well. After 950 ADS was abandoned but a very few stayed then later the Guatemalan forest claimed the ruins for itself for the rest of the years till this day. 

                  Pompeii. The town of Pompeii went through a horrible fate which made the entire city a ghost town. On the 24th of August, 79 AD a volcano which was called Vesuvius erupted and covered the Pompeii in ash and soil. This made the city preserved in its very state for a while. Everything there was frozen in time according to research the paintings, jars and tables even people were frozen in time. It was not long until Pompeii alongside Herculaneum were forgotten after it was abandoned. After that an excavation was started in the 18th century and the lost city was rediscovered, and the city has provided much details about how people lived their lives in Pompeii at that time.  

                 Ani. Unlike the others, Ani is not very popular, but it is still a lost city. It situated along a major east-west caravan routes in the medieval times. Ani was a flourishing town around the 5th Century AD and had become the capital of Armenia in the early 10th century. Like Tikal, Ani has a big population which reached around 100,000 to 200,000 people. Ani remained strong as the chief city or Armenia but then a domino effect led the city to a massive down fall. Starting from the Mongol raid in the 13th Century to a brutal earthquake in 1319 to shifting trade routes. The city was abandoned and forgotten and still stands in Turkey. 

              Vijayanagar. This Indian city once flourish from the 14th century up until the 16th century during the power of Vijayanagar empire. During this time, the Vijayanagar often had conflicts with the Muslim kingdom but in 1565 the empire was attacked by Vijayanagar was taken. The Muslim army then began to destroy the city of Vijayanagar and its Hindu temples for some period. Later after that the city was reoccupied and was rebuilt but it slowly declines, and it was abandoned since then. 

                         Urgench. It was once located at Amu-Darya River at Uzbekistan and was once the greatest cities in the Silks roads. It became the capital of the Central Asian empire of Khwarazm. However in the 1221, Genghis Khan attacked Urgench to destruction. Many of the population was massacred but women and children were given to soldiers to be used as slaves. The city later recovered but it was abandoned due to climate change which forced everyone to leave the site forever. 

                   Leptis Magna. This was a city in the Roman Empire located in Libya. Its location made it a great trade centre at that time. The Roman Empire Septimius Severus was born and lived from 193 to 211. He was born at Leptis and became a great patron for the city after that. Over time Leptis began to decline because of the increasing difficulties for the Roman Empire and the city was lost after the Arab conquest of 642 and the city was just buried in time. 

               Persepolis. Also known as the capital of Persia in Greek was the centre and ceremonial capital of the city. The beautiful city is filled with precious artwork which only little is preserved to this day, sadly. In the process of conquering the Persian empire, Alexander the Great burnt Persepolis to ashes, well only some of it as revenge for the burning of Acropolis in Athens. Persepolis remained as the capital of Persia but slowly the empire declines and was left to rot. 

               There are many more lost cities out there both discovered and undiscovered which is awaiting to be discovered to share its history to the entire world. These cities which were once lost should be preserved and taken good care because it has thought us many valuable things which we can use so that cities of these days do not fall to destruction like the cities of the past which crumbled in time or the clutches of war and eventually abandoned.